The Number of Undefeated Teams Drops to Five as College Football Playoff Picture is Unveiled This Week

 

The Buckeyes are doing everything to set a rematch with the Ducks in the Big Ten Championship.

    Three of the eight undefeated teams entering Saturday's contests were handed their first loss of the season in a variety of ways. The Nittany Lions were the first to go down as Penn State was given turnover gifts from Ohio State and their pick-six was their lone touchdown of the game. Drew Allar continued to show his inability to play well against elite teams, just as James Franklin continued to show that he had no idea how to beat the boys from Columbus. His only win came on a blocked field goal in 2016 and that means that Franklin has as many wins as Brady Hoke against the Buckeyes.

    

    During the later matchups, Pitt was absolutely steamrolled by the SMU Mustangs, 48-25, to put SMU in a spot to go to the ACC Championship, especially after Louisville pummeled Clemson. The Iowa State Cyclones could've remained undefeated had they not forgotten how to play defense in the final two minutes to drop a 23-22 contest to Texas Tech.

The Hurricanes wrecked Duke's upset bid.

    Oregon and Indiana crushed their Michigan foes to remain atop the Big Ten, while Army struggled to get past Air Force at times before ultimately winning. The wildest game was between Miami (FL) and Duke as the Blue Devils held a 28-17 lead in the second half and lost 53-31 to keep the Hurricanes atop the ACC.

    For those trying to keep their playoff berths alive, many two-loss teams celebrated thanks to some late-night losses. Texas A&M went from Top 10 to being caught in the trap game at South Carolina that saw the Gamecocks best the Aggies 44-20, while Kansas State saw their rally thwarted by Houston after a lengthy delay. Speaking of lengthy delays, just 3.5 miles away from the KSU and Houston game, Navy waited 5 hours because of lightning to be upset by Rice. The Group of Five outliers like Boise State rejoiced when Memphis was handed their second loss, though the Broncos are hoping to still have one loss by the time Army plays Notre Dame, where the Irish can destroy the hopes of two service academies in one season.

Indiana has Michigan and Ohio State up next.

    With the College Football Playoff's first rankings unveiled on Tuesday, let's see how those cowards will stray from the true standings with a Pool's Poll outlook. If I were in charge (probably best that I'm not since this would be a 16-team playoff with all conference winners clinching a berth) Oregon would have the number one spot. So far, so good. Then Miami would claim the two spot, Indiana the three, and finally BYU, yes Big 12 front-runner BYU, would be at the four. That means we'd have the following matchups which would surely lead to bloodbaths, but remember this is the first week and they never stay the same.

Army would host Georgia and the Bulldogs would cruise to a first-round victory and play Oregon. I think SMU could hang with Tennesse before the Vols pulled away late for a showdown with the Hurricanes. Ohio State would travel to Notre Dame and that would be one for the ages. It all depends on which version of each team shows up, but since the Irish choke harder than Ryan Day in these situations, I'll say the Buckeyes get by to face Indiana. Then Penn State poops the bed in Texas and the Longhorns face BYU. That could mean an Oregon-Texas, Ohio State-Tennesse Semi-Finals. I'll say Texas meets Ohio State and because I'm a troll, the Buckeyes lose on a missed field goal and Quinn Ewers outplays Will Howard.

There will likely be about four more SEC teams on the actual list, but didn't that sound exciting for a second.

Here's a look at this week's Top 25:

Honestly, it could've been worse for the Wolverines.

                                

1. Oregon (9-0, 63 WA, 0 LA)

Last Week Rank: 2

Last Week: The Ducks went to the Big House and continued to expose the horrendous offense of the Wolverines.

Up Next: Maryland (4-4, 78)

2. Miami, FL (9-0, 72.6, 0)

LWR: 4

LW: The Hurricanes ruined the revenge scheme planned by Duke's coach Manny Diaz, as Miami rolled in the second half to remain undefeated.

Up Next: Georgia Tech (5-4, 60)

3. Indiana (9-0, 74.6, 0)

LWR: 3

LW: The Hoosiers fell behind 10-0, then went on to win 47-10, so I think they figured things out.

Up Next: Michigan (5-4, 57)

4. BYU (8-0, 77.9, 0)

LWR: 5

LW: The Cougars enjoyed a bye week and will battle in-state rival Utah this week.

Up Next: Utah (4-4, 77)

This week was the first time the Black Knights didn't score 40 points in a game.

5. Army (8-0, 114.8, 0)

LWR: 8

LW: The Black Knights forced six turnovers to win the first leg of the Commanders-in-Chiefs' Trophy against Air Force, who also lost to Navy. With the injury to their starting quarterback and the fact that they'll be playing teams with winning records in their next two games, Army might not be undefeated for long.

Up Next: North Texas (5-3, 53)

6. SMU (8-1, 76.6, 84)

LWR: 14

LW: The Mustangs handed Pitt their first loss, which probably should've happened sooner. SMU briefly jumps ahead of everyone on this list thanks to their extra game. Everyone will catch up after the Mustangs' bye week.

Up Next: Boston College (11/16)

7. Notre Dame (7-1, 53, 76)

LWR: 9

LW: The Irish did absolutely nothing as they likely had this bye week scheduled to get ready for a game everyone circled in the summer and now NBC probably wants to flex this game to Peacock so no one has to watch it.

Up Next: Florida State (1-8, 132)

8. Texas (7-1, 58, 27)

LWR: 10

LW: The Longhorns enjoyed a bye to figure out how to perfect the taste of barbequed gator.

Up Next: Florida (4-4, 82)

9. Penn State (7-1, 62.9, 19)

LWR: 1

LW: The Nittany Lions threw an interception, that maybe wasn't, in the endzone and then got stuffed from the 1-yard line four times. They deserved to lose this game.

Up Next: Washington (5-4, 61)

The Buckeyes were sloppy in their win over Penn State.

10. Ohio State (7-1, 66.4, 3)

LWR: 19

LW: The Buckeyes weaseled their way out of another loss despite playing mediocre football. They sit behind the Nittany Lions because of the weak schedule they played before this game and this week won't help.

Up Next: Purdue (1-7, 129)

11. Tennessee (7-1, 69.6, 72)

LWR: 16

LW: The Volunteers struggled with Kentucky, but eventually cruised to a 28-18 win.

Up Next: Mississippi State (2-7, 126)

12. Georgia (7-1, 72.9, 2)

LWR: 18

LW: The Bulldogs were in a back-and-forth battle with Florida and then scored the last 14 points of the game to win 34-20.

Up Next: Ole Miss (7-2, 20)

13. Washington State (7-1, 76.6, 68)

LWR: 13

LW: The Cougars did nothing and are well-rested for a really bad Utah State team.

Up Next: Utah State (2-6, 121)

14. Boise State (7-1, 80.7, 5)

LWR: 20

LW: Ashton Jeanty did his best Michael Myers impersonation the day after Halloween as the Broncos scared a 56-24 win out of San Diego State.

Up Next: Nevada (3-7, 114)

The Cyclones lost on a touchdown in the final minute.

15. Iowa State (7-1, 86, 40)

LWR: 6

LW: The Cyclones couldn't weather the Red Raiders rally in the fourth quarter and dropped a 23-22 contest.

Up Next: Kansas (2-6, 119)

16. Pitt (7-1, 87.7, 14)

LWR: 7

LW: The Panthers scored late to make it a 23-point loss instead of a 30-point loss to SMU.

Up Next: Virginia (4-4, 74)

17. Louisiana (7-1, 101.7, 102)

LWR: 22

LW: The Ragin' Cajuns earned a Tuesday night victory over Texas State, 23-17.

Up Next: Arkansas State (5-3, 56)

18. Kansas State (7-2, 69.6, 59)

LWR: 11

LW: The Wildcats were rusty thanks to a lightning delay and stumbled to a 24-19 loss to Houston.

Up Next: Arizona State (11/16)

19. Texas A&M (7-2, 73.7, 36.5)

LWR: 12

LW: The Aggies were perhaps looking ahead to their bye week and forgot to get ready for South Carolina in a 44-20 loss.

Up Next: New Mexico State (11/16)

Jaxson Dart threw for 515 yards and 6 touchdowns on Saturday.

20. Ole Miss (7-2, 87.3, 54.5)

LWR: 30

LW: The Rebels were not surprised by the Razorbacks as they had a 63-31 hog roast.

Up Next: Georgia (7-1, 12)

21. Tulane (7-2, 91.3, 25.5)

LWR: 28

LW: It was all treat and not trick on Halloween as the Green Wave rolled to a 34-3 win over Charlotte.

Up Next: Temple (2-6, 117)

22. Memphis (7-2, 96.1, 75)

LWR: 15

LW: The Tigers got punched early and often in San Antonio as the Roadrunners outpaced Memphis 44-36.

Up Next: Rice (3-6, 105)

23. Sam Houston State (7-2, 102.4, 53)

LWR: 34

LW: The Bearkats trailed 3-2 at the half to Louisiana Tech on Tuesday, but rallied to win 9-3. CUSA football is no Mid-Week MACtion.

Up Next: Kennesaw State (11/16)

24. Alabama (6-2, 42, 52)

LWR: 24

LW: The Crimson Tide rested for one of the marquee matchups of next Saturday.

Up Next: LSU (6-2, 25)

The Bayou Bengals will face Alabama next Saturday.

25. LSU (6-2, 63.3, 25)

LWR: 25

LW: The Tigers also rested for their showdown against the hated rival.

Up Next: Alabama (6-2, 24)

Dropped Out: Clemson, Navy, and Liberty

Watchlist: Syracuse, Clemson, Colorado, Arizona State, Western Kentucky, James Madison, Missouri, UNLV, Navy, Liberty, Texas Tech, Louisville, Vanderbilt, Illinois, and Minnesota

Bottom 10:

Even a win over UMass couldn't help Mississippi State escape the Bottom 10.

126. Mississippi State (2-7)

127. UMass (2-7)

128. Kennesaw State (1-7)

129. Purdue (1-7)

130. Southern Miss (1-7)

131. Air Force (1-7)

132. Florida State (1-8)

133. UTEP (1-8)

134. Kent State (0-8)